1:32nd scale Roland D.II

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi all,
I'll be building the 3D printed model of a Roland D.II scout by MDesign in Bulgaria.
This particular aircraft is Roland D.II (Pfalz built), Serial No: 2895/16 of the 1st Aeroplane Detachment, Bulgarian Air Service during 1918.
This aircraft was built under license by Pfalz and was marked with the later style of crosses on the wings, fuselage and rudder.
The aircraft also carried a legend, forward from the fuselage crosses, which when translated into English read Prince Kyril.
He was Kyril Heinrich Franz Ludwig Anton Karl Philipp, Prince of Preslav, Bulgaria, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony and was the younger son of Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand.
However, he was not a WW1 pilot. The legend refers to the aircraft being intended for use in the defence of where he was born, which was Sofia on the 17 January 1895.

Being 3D printed and a limited run kit, it should prove interesting if not challenging,

Mike

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi all,
I've today received my kit and initially I'm impressed.
The kit was very well packaged with separate padded envelopes containing the parts.
Instructions are now included in the kit, whereas before they needed to be downloaded.
Also, all of the parts are now separately printed and bagged, so no longer all contained in a boxed print.
There does not seem to be any surface imperfections or print striation lines.
None of the parts were damaged in transit.
The shipping charge covered importing into the UK so no customs charge added.

As to how easily the parts can be separated from their support trees and then how fragile they may be will be the challenge,

Mike

[DaddyO]

Certainly looks the part Mike and great that the costs also include any import taxes so you can assess the 'actual' cost of the model.

Be nice to see how this one progresses given that 3d printing seems to be the way of things at the moment. Hopefully they'll all separate easily from their supports without damage. The small number of parts hopefully means that it will be a quick (ish) build. My only reservation of printed resin is that it does seem to be quite brittle, but perhaps that's a trade off for the crispness of the details 

Paul

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi all,
All of the parts were separated from their support trees using just single blade nippers (DSPIAE).
The resin is tough so no breakages or damage was caused.
The upper wing has been test fitted using the supplied 1.2 mm diameter metal rods.
The fuselage halves and lower wings also test fitted.
I did find that when using the supplied 1.2 mm diameter rods, the lower wing leading/trailing edges were not aligned to the fuselage wing roots.
Therefore, I used 1.0 mm diameter rod, which gives a small amount of play to align the wing correctly to the fuselage wing roots.
Similarly, the supplied 1.0 mm diameter rods for the tailplanes were loose in the 1.2 mm diameter locating holes in the tailplanes and fuselage.
Therefore, I used instead 1.2 mm Brass tube.

Mike

[NigelR]

Very interested to see how this turns out. I'm sure you will be up to any challenges this kit throws at you!

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi all,
The landing gear and engine have been sorted.
The engine as expected was tricky to clean up after removing the support trees.
It will be modified with ignition leads/plugs and pipes, although most of the engine is buried inside the fuselage and under the access panels.
The landing gear struts were cleaned up, taking care to not flex and break them.
Also the tops of the struts were sanded slightly to allow them to fully locate into their fuselage recesses

Mike

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi all,
Supplied metal reinforcing rods pass through the wings/fuselage and the tailplanes.
Entry holes are left at the wing tips and outer ends of the tailplanes.
I used UV setting resin, which was applied to the holes, set then filed/sanded to blend with surrounding surfaces.
A light coat of grey primer was airbrushed to check the smoothness of the filled holes,

Mike

[Umlaufmotor]

Hi Mike,

I've also had the Roland D.II at home for a few days now and - of course -, I couldn't resist and have already removed the 3D support elements from the fuselage and wings.
Since I'm planning - when the time comes - (  ) to build a Roland D.II that flew under the German flag (with the two birds on the fuselage sides, as seen in Jasta 32), I've also removed the auxiliary water tank between the two wing radiators.

Anyway, I'm following your work closely and will keep in mind your tips and solutions for this kit.

Greetings from Bavaria
Servus
Bertl

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi Mike,

I've also had the Roland D.II at home for a few days now and - of course -, I couldn't resist and have already removed the 3D support elements from the fuselage and wings.
Since I'm planning - when the time comes - (  ) to build a Roland D.II that flew under the German flag (with the two birds on the fuselage sides, as seen in Jasta 32), I've also removed the auxiliary water tank between the two wing radiators.

Anyway, I'm following your work closely and will keep in mind your tips and solutions for this kit.

Greetings from Bavaria
Servus
Bertl

Hi Bertl,
Thankfully I don't need to remove that tank as Bavarian aircraft had it fitted.
I'm sure your model will be top notch,

Mike

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi all,
The 3D printed control rods for the aileron and the tailplane support struts are printed to scale.
Therefore, they are rather weak.
I chose to replace them with Brass tube of 0.8 mm diameter for the aileron control rods, which were blackened.
Also, flattened 0.7 mm diameter tube for the tailplanes support struts,

Mike

[KiwiZac]

I'm enjoying the step-by-step details on this one as this style of kit becomes more commonplace and a way for me to fulfil my more esoteric kit wishes. Thanks for being so in-depth, Mike, and I'm eager to see what's next.

[Dirigible-Al]

I am enjoying the progress and approaches you are doing with this. I know this will turn into a real beauty.
Alan.

[NigelR]

You are already addressing any challenges head on with this one Mike, I'm looking forward to more.

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi Mike,

I've also had the Roland D.II at home for a few days now and - of course -, I couldn't resist and have already removed the 3D support elements from the fuselage and wings.
Since I'm planning - when the time comes - (  ) to build a Roland D.II that flew under the German flag (with the two birds on the fuselage sides, as seen in Jasta 32), I've also removed the auxiliary water tank between the two wing radiators.

Anyway, I'm following your work closely and will keep in mind your tips and solutions for this kit.

Greetings from Bavaria
Servus
Bertl

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Your aircraft is shown in several photographs on this site:

https://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft25484.htm

[Mike Norris (UK)]

Hi all,
The forward sides of the fuselage and engine access panels have louvres intended to aid cooling of the engine bay area.
These louvres are printed on rectangular panels which are too thick. Possibly due to the model being upscaled from the 1:72nd or 1:48th scale models.
It seems from photographs and drawings that the amount and positioning of these cooling louvres were different between Pfalz and LFG built aircraft and between the Mercedes D.III or Argus As.III powered aircraft.

As always, research into WW1 aircraft usually results in inconclusive and differing information. Therefore, the following is my personal findings and may not be totally accurate.
 
Pfalz built, Mercedes powered aircraft:
                           Five double louvres on the forward right side of the fuselage, as depicted on the model and not four, as shown on various colour profiles.
                           Four double louvres on the forward, left side of the fuselage. Therefore, the lower, forward louvered panel on the model left fuselage half (for this particular model) should be removed entirely.

Due to print errors I decided to also replace all of the louvres on the engine cowl panels.

All louvres removed, thickness of panel reduced, panel/cowl fasteners reinstated, right side panel added and lower engine cowl rear edge scribed.
All of the louvres will be added using Proper Plane RD-011 3D printed louvres,

Mike